Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Cat Toy Tutorial

With the addition of Cashew the kitten to our little menagerie, I needed a few toys to keep the kittens happy. In about 20 minutes I made three catnip-filled toys, which my cats are now happily attacking and killing over and over.

1. Gather all your supplies. I used two small fabric scraps (about 3" tall by 5" long) and cut out mouse "bodies" with a freehand shape that basically is half a heart with a rounded end instead of a point. Also, two small felt circle ears, a ribbon tail (with a knot at one end), poly-fil, and catnip.

2. Using only one of the body pieces, baste (or pin--but I don't like to pin unless I absolutely have to!) the little felt ears (both at the same time) to the top of the head, with the round end facing towards the center of the body. Baste the un-knotted end of the ribbon tail to the bum of the mouse, again facing towards the center.

3. Make a mouse sandwich: place the other body piece facedown on top of the piece from step number two. If you are more comfortable pinning at this point, go for it. I, on the other hand, like to fly by the seat of my pants and see what happens when I don't pin.

4. Starting on the bottom, run a straight stitch all the way around the body. If you want to reinforce the seams, you can go around again. But, make sure you leave a small opening--about 1-1.5 inches long--at the bottom.

5. Turn the whole body right-side out, poking the tiny points with a blunt crochet hook or other poking device. Fill with poly-fil and catnip. I left our mice a bit soft, and added only a tablespoon or so of catnip to each. Since Cashew is so tiny, I figured she'd have an easier time if I didn't make it too heavy or firm.

6. To sew the opening closed, you could do a slipstitch. But, since I was in a hurry, I didn't. I just mushed the stuffing over a bit and ran a straight stitch across the opening, about 3/8" in.

7 comments:

Um, I love this idea! I just bought one of these at the pet store for 3 dollars and it did not even cross my mind to make it myself. Thanks for the tutorial!! Mice will be in production soon in my sewing room!

Oh, these are super cute. I am constantly buying little mice for my kitties, because Paley LOVES them, but she loses them ALL the time. I don't know where they go, seriously.

I think as she loses the ones she has now I will start making new ones because they are so dang cute. The tails on the store ones are kind of wimpy, too, so this would be nice way to improve on them.

The other thing I thought of when I read this tutorial is, dang, these would be cute to give my sister's cats for Christmas. And like, who else do I know that has cats, because in cute fabrics they would make such a cute gift (or part of a gift, or whatever.)